From 22 to 24 September, Penza-Flensburg Congress is being held at Penza State University for the eighth time, but this time in an online format. The Congress programme is designed for three days and involves a number of online working meetings, discussion platforms, and public events.

On September 22, the ceremonial opening of the Congress took place, at which representatives from Flensburg and Penza made welcoming speeches.

Swetlana Krätzschmar, ex-president of Flensburg, honorary doctor of PSU, coordinator of cooperation between Penza and Flensburg, was the first to greet the participants of the Congress. “The atmosphere of joint scientific activity in the global world will remain unchanged. Interaction in the field of science and education is an investment in the future, this value cannot be neglected,” said Swetlana Krätzschmar.

Then the floor was turned over to the President of Flensburg, Hannes Fuhrig, who thanked all the coordinators for preparing and organizing the Congress in difficult conditions caused by the pandemic. “I am glad that despite restrictions, the cooperation at the city level continues. Two students from Flensburg and one from Penza began their double degree programme. The partnership in the field of medicine is developing. It involves, first of all, students’ and teachers’ internships in the leading clinics in Flensburg,” emphasized Hannes Fuhrig.

Natalia Chistyakova, Acting Deputy Minister of Education of the Penza Region, made a welcoming speech on behalf of the Ministry of Education of the Penza region. She emphasized the importance of developing cooperation between educational institutions, since this enables the young generation to enhance intercultural competencies and communicate in an intercultural space based on the principles of mutual respect and understanding.

Then Prof. Dr. Iulia-Karin Patrut, Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Digitalization of Europa-Universität Flensburg, Gleb Sintsov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs of PSU, Dr. Christoph Jansen, President of Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, addressed the participants with welcoming words.

“The cooperation is developing. The academic mobility programme was not stopped even during this difficult time. Projects in the field of teacher education, cultural studies, and the media are being implemented at the expense of grants from European funds,” said Gleb Sintsov.

Among the most important implemented projects, it is necessary to highlight the master's double degree programme “Languages. Culture. Media”, the implementation of which began on September 1, 2021 in cooperation with Europa-Universität Flensburg, as well as the competition of environmental projects “Green Campus - Green City”, held for the second time in conjunction with Flensburg University of Applied Sciences.

The cooperation with German partners is carried out not only between educational institutions. Students of the PSU Medical Institute do internships in Flensburg clinics: at DIAKO clinics and Malteser hospital. On behalf of the medical institutions, Prof. Dr. Stefan Müller-Hülsbeck, Medical Director of the DIAKO clinics, Prof. Dr. Stephan Timm, Medical Director of St. Franziskus-Hospital, and Aleksandr Mitroshin, Director of the PSU Medical Institute, made welcoming speeches.

All the speakers wished the participants of the Congress successful and fruitful work, and also expressed their hope that the congress in 2022 would be held in full-time format.

As a reminder, the cooperation with Flensburg began back in 2013. Every year more and more students, teachers, schoolchildren, and doctors are involved in the implementation of joint projects. Penza and Flensburg are the best example of implementing a dialogue of cultures between Russia and Germany on the basis of mutual respect and understanding.

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